


To Earn Freedom

by Emperess Amidala (Twird96)



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003) - All Media Types
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Gambling, Slavery, underground racing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-09
Updated: 2016-07-09
Packaged: 2018-07-22 14:46:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7443175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Twird96/pseuds/Emperess%20Amidala
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anakin found the Lower Level Speeder races at age 14.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Earn Freedom

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Fialleril](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fialleril/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Fialleril's Tumblr Post About Dex Joining Anakin's Crusade](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/212611) by Fialleril. 



Anakin found the Lower Level Speeder races at age 14.

He tried to seek out to them sooner, but always got caught sneaking out of the temple. But he had finally learned to contain his presence in the force by 14 (well, he finally managed it a few months before, but him and Obi-Wan were on a mission off planet and it was the first chance he could slip away). He found the races and a group of beings all betting on racers. Anakin had a really good feeling about the Wookie, even though the odds were against him. He had just got into line to place a bet when a hand rested on his shoulder, Anakin jumped and prepared to fight off a mugging, but who he saw was much, much worse.

“Kid, does your master know you’re down here all alone?” Dex asked, arms folded, eyes narrowed. It only took Anakin a few seconds to crumbled like a house of cards.

“Please don’t tell him Dex! He'll be really mad and not understand!” Anakin explained, giving Dex a desperate look.

“Hm, he would be upset you’re down here on your own. Kids aren’t safe down here, ever baby Jedi. But he would understand a little teenage rebellion, he had his own, believe it or not.” Dex said, tugging on Anakin’s braid. Anakin huffed.

“Don’t call me a baby Jedi. And.. Well, its not for a teenage rebellion...” Anakin said, looking down at his feet. Dex raised his eyebrows and waited. “I’m a Jedi Padawan but... I still knew my mom. You see, I had to leave her behind and I’m suppose to let go of my attachment to her. But... I left her as a slave on Tattooine. I promised to free her and the other slaves one day. But my training is taking so long, so I thought I could try and earn some money and free mom earlier and go back for the other slaves later. So I wanted to try and bet on a couple of races to earn the money!” Anakin explained.

Dex’s looked Anakin and cursed his soft spot. “Fine, I won’t tell your master. But I had better not see you on any of these bikes, ever! Obi-Wan would kill me if he found out. Give me the money, I’ll place the bet. Besides, I know this bunch. They will pay me, but they will probably try to scam you.”

“Thank you Dex! Do you think you could help me figure out how to exchange the money? Republic Credits don’t mean anything out on the rim.” Dex cursed himself again. He had a feeling that he was going to get dragged farther into this than he planned.

-~-~-

So every month he was on world, Anakin would meet up with Dex and they would place bets at the races. By the second race, Dex was betting his own money on Anakin’s choices (he slipped a bit extra in Anakin’s shares to make up for it). 

Dex did his best to not let Obi-Wan know. Dex knew that Obi-Wan cared for his padawan, but Dex also know that Obi-Wan followed the code and would urge Anakin to concentrate more on his studies and not linger on his attachments. Dex let his network know he was interested in exchanging Republic Credits for other currency, and slowly saved up the money to buy Shmi.

But then one day, some time after Obi-Wan brought him a dart to identify, Anakin came in. He had a datapad in his hands.

“Dex, I need you to help me get all my money to a friend on Tattooine.” He explained. Dex raised an eyebrow.

“I thought you said we still had another thousand or so until we could afford your mom?” He asked. Anakin flinched and Dex’s stomach dropped.

“She..she’s gone. But I have people there, who are still enslaved, friends who were once as close as family. It looks like we may be going to war, so it will be a long time before I can even try to free the slaves. But, if I send this to Kitster, maybe he can free himself or some of the others.”

“Hm. Perhaps. I’ll send him everything but the credits that I haven’t exchanged. No Anakin, listen, if you want to help, that’s great. But if you keep betting, you can continuously send money. Won’t that help more slaves?” Dex asked. Anakin stared for a moment before nodding.

“It would. It might be slow but, we, they have been waiting for freedom for so long. We can wait a little longer. Maybe I'll start racing again, betting on myself while the odds are against me..." Anakin mused. Dex groaned.

"Kid, do you want your master to kill me?" 

And so began Anakin's financing of the Tattooine Slave Rebellion.


End file.
